First impressions
by monkeycrackmary
Summary: When Petunia Evans bullies a little boy named Remus, her sister meets a lifelong friend.


  
  
He was a particularly intelligent child, the teachers all commented on it. Too quiet, but very smart. They'd moved him up two levels at school already, so while everyone else in his class had celebrated their ninth birthdays, he was only seven.   
  
This, coupled with a quietness that bordered on timidity, made him an easy target for bullies. The worst of them was Petunia Evans, a mean-eyed, long-necked girl who liked to pry into other people's business, especially when they were smaller then her.   
  
"You weren't at school yesterday. Playing truant?" she asked with a cruel smirk.   
  
"My mother was sick." Remus replied with his usual even voice.   
  
"That's what you said last time. I bet you play hooky." Put out by the fact he never rose to her teasing, Petunia snatched the book he was reading, holding it high in the air.   
  
It was a sunny day and all the other children were using their lunch hour to swing on the monkeybars and play hopscotch, but Remus was sitting under a tree, reading with tired eyes.   
  
"Give that back please." he said now. Petunia held it higher instead. "Give it back." He repeated.   
  
"You're a nerdy little swot."   
  
"Give me my book back!" Remus yelled as he got to his feet.   
  
"What's going on?" a little girl with flame-red pigtails, a thin face and bright green eyes came over, glaring at Petunia. "What are you doing, 'Tunia?"   
  
"None of your business." Petunia sneered. "Go back to your baby games."   
  
"You're a mean pig." Remus said hotly. "And I want my book back."   
  
"Give him his book back." the red-haired girl said, a note of threatening in her voice. Petunia, still holding the book too high for Remus to grasp, reached out her other hand and tugged on one of the smaller girl's pigtails.   
  
"Ow!" the girl's green eyes narrowed.   
  
"Don't hurt her." Remus' voice was still even and polite, but the same warning tone the little girl has spoken with was in his words.   
  
"Why not? What're you going to do, little baby?" Petunia was momentarily distracted by a group of girls calling for her to join their skipping game. Remus muttered something and the book flew into his hands. Petunia looked at her empty palms, surprised.   
  
"Ha ha, you dropped it." the girl with firey hair taunted, pulling Remus away before Petunia could do anything else.   
  
"My name's Lily." She introduced herself when they were a safe distance away.   
  
"Remus." they shook hands. Lily had a warm smile, something that hadn't been apparent during the earlier confrontation.   
  
"That was my sister. She's horrible." Lily screwed her face up in disgust.   
  
"I know." Remus agreed.   
  
"How did you do that with your book?"   
  
"What? She dropped it, like you said."   
  
"No." Lily shook her head, the red pigtails slapping against her face gently. "I saw it. You said something and it was like an invisible rope pulled it to you."   
  
"I didn't say anything." Remus' young face was looking very worried now.   
  
"C'mon." Lily begged. "I'm good at keeping secrets. I'll never tell a single person."   
  
"All right." Perhaps it was because she'd defended him, or because she had a kind smile. For whatever reason, Remus felt as if he could trust her. "I learnt it from my Dad. He sometimes uses it to get the paper if he's already in his comfy chair." The explination was a sheepish one. "He doesn't know I know it, and he and Mum don't like me talking to other kids very much, so you've really, really got to keep the secret, ok?"   
  
"I already said I would." Lily reminded him.   
  
"Promise?"   
  
"Promise."   
  
"Like this then. Here, you hold it and then I go Accio book." The slim paperback responded instantly.   
  
"Cool." Lily said with an incredulous grin. "Can I try?"   
  
"Sure." Remus held the book up on his palms. Lily looked at it intently, her forehead wrinkling with concentration. "Accio book."   
  
It shot through the air and hit her square on the chest, sending her sprawling onto the ground. She looked up at Remus with very surprised eyes, and after a moment they both dissolved into gales of laughter.   
  



End file.
